Tagged with:Your Stories
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Hollie-Grace’s Story
After experiencing terrible bullying at her old school, Hollie-Grace discovered a love for running which has boosted her confidence and self-belief. She hopes to encourage others to believe in themselves and know they can achieve anything, regardless of their differences. Hollie-Grace's mum, Nikki, kindly shared her story with CLAPA following an interview on ITV news.
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Naomi & Oliver’s Story
This World Smile Day, CLAPA welcomes 'Jamestown' Actress Naomi Battrick as our Ambassador. Here, she shares her memories of supporting longtime friend Oliver through one of the many cleft-related surgeries he went through.
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Sarah’s Story
During those formative years, I was in and out of GOSH for surgical procedures, either on my bladder or to correct my facial differences. In 1982 I had some of some bone marrow taken from my hip and grafted into the gap left by the cleft.
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Amanda and Skye’s Story
With the surprise of her first baby being born with a cleft, Amanda found that the experience was quite isolating. It was this that inspired her to become more involved with CLAPA, forming and running her own group for other Scottish families affected by cleft.
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40 years of CLAPA: An Interview with Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies, now co-founder of the European Cleft Organisation (ECO) was CLAPA’s first CEO (and first ever paid staff member) from 1995 until 2008. Gareth’s time as CEO saw Carol Vorderman invited to become CLAPA’s Patron in 2001, CLAPA’s first ever young people’s residential weekend in 2002, the launch of free ‘Welcome Packs’ for new parents and carers in 2003 and CLAPA’s first Adults’ Conference in 2007.
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Nick’s Story
"The cursor in the search bar blinked. Fingers sat motionless on the keys. Is this what we want to do? What are we hoping to find out? Why am I thinking, “how bad will it be?” Why her? Will she be okay? What will her life be like? All the questions that you may have wistfully imagined answers to while watching the sunrise now cascaded in search of answers in front of a monitor. The idea of finding out as frightening as not knowing."
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40 years of CLAPA: An Interview with Michael Mars
One of our founding members, former Orthodontist Michael Mars has watched CLAPA grow from an idea into a national charity working to improve the lives of people affected by cleft all over the UK. In this interview, he looks back on how CLAPA was founded and how far it has come since 1979.
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Amelia’s Story
Amelia is part of CLAPA's Board of Trustees. Our Trustees are a small group of volunteers who take responsibility for governing CLAPA as a charity and directing how it is managed and run. CLAPA's staff look after the charity's day-to-day work, but our Board of Trustees ensures everything we do is governed and directed by the cleft community.
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Eleanor’s Story!
Eleanor, now in her early 20s, volunteers for CLAPA by helping to run Residential Weekends for young people born with a cleft. From adventure activities and team games to the opportunity to relax and have fun with others who have similar experiences, these weekends are aimed at tackling the isolation that can sometimes come with being born with a cleft.
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Oliver’s Story!
“I hadn’t thought about CLAPA in years,” Oliver admits. “I used to go to the Christmas parties when I was younger and I had really nice memories of them which came back when I saw the logo, they were fun parties.” CLAPA Trustee Oliver shares his story ahead of CLAPA's 40th birthday.
